Image: Wabanaki Wampum Alliance Belt

Description: The Wabanaki Confederacy did not seem to have a flag, but they did have traditional Wampum belts that played a similar role, only with more importance. This Wabanaki "Alliance Belt" design was displayed in the 1915 edition of American Anthropologist by Frank Speck who discussed that the side markings represent wigwams of the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Abenaki, and Penobscot. In the middle is a peace pipe, representing the unification and alliance of the tribes of Wabanaki. The belts were held by messengers who would travel to villages to let them know the outcomes of conferences of Wabanaki leadership, different belts indicated what the news was. War, peace, and so on. This design is for the people going to the conference, and with it they would be guaranteed attention when they spoke while holding it. The original was said to be about 15 inches long. It was 71 by 5 beads long with each bead being 1 by 2 large. Thus the actual size would be better listed as 71 by 10. This image is a proper scaled digital version of the 1915 alliance belt.
Title: Wabanaki Wampum Alliance Belt
Credit: Own work
Author: Wolastoq
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication
License: CC0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en
Attribution Required?: No